Range body construction



y 967 R. D. SCHIBLEY 3,318,301

RANGE BODY CONSTRUCTION 7 Filed June 24, 1965 2 Sheets-Sheet 1 FIG.2.

WITNESSES INVENTOR Wig/W Raymond D. Schibley Wfi w wt? .W

ATTORNEY May 9, 1967 Filed June 24, 1965 R. D. SCHIBLEY RANGE BODY CONSTRUCTION 2 Sheets-Sheet 2 United States Patent poration of Pennsylvania Filed June 24, 1965, Ser. No. 466,786 3 Claims. (Cl. 12637) This invention relates, in general, to domestic appliances, for example, ranges or the like, and, more particularly, to range body constructions.

Some conventional cooking ranges comprise a skeletal frame supporting an oven or two, and storage compartments etc., panels of enameled metal being attached to the outside of the frame for providing an attractive exterior; other ranges comprise a cabinetincluding top, body, and base members-which are fabricated almost exclusively of sheet metal, the sheet metal being coated, usually, with vitreous enamel.

With each type of range, it is customary, in order to accommodate the needs and desires of a greater number of consumers, for range manufacturers to produce a complete range line comprising various sizes and configurations. To this end, it is necessary for the manufacturer to employ either a large number of tooling changeovers or to provide separate tooling for each different size range. For example, in the case of a sheet metal body for ranges, it would be necessary to provide different tooling for making a body for a range having a single oven, from that for making a body for a range having two ovens. Alternatively, basic tooling could be used for both range bodies, however, tooling changeovers would be necessary. It will be apparent that with the alternative procedure, it would not be possible to simultaneously produce different size ranges. Needless to say, the foregoing is not desirable from the standpoint of production cost.

One of the many problems confronting a manufacturer is that of deciding how many and what style of range or units should be fabricated. This problem, because of current practices in the industry, i.e. producing a complete line is appreciably magnified because, not only must one decide on the total units to be made, but he must also decide how many of each size or style, overstocking or understocking of parts often being the result of his decision.

Accordingly, the general object of this invention is to provide an improved range construction.

It is a more particular object of this invention to provide a new and improved range construction which can be manufactured inexpensively by simple manufacturing techniques.

Another object of this invention is to provide a new and improved method of constructing cooking ranges.

Still another object of this invention is to provide a new and improved method of manufacturing range body construction which is simple and inexpensive.

Briefly, the present invention accomplishes the above cited objects by providing range body component parts comprising side walls and portions of the front wall. The front wall portions of two corresponding parts may be joined together in a spaced relationship in the same plane by various size spacer members to form various size front walls, while the side walls are joined together by a rear panel at the free ends of the side walls. For purposes of reenforcing the sheet metal structure, gusset plates are secured to flanges at the top and bottom corners ofthe side Walls at their juncture with the front Wall portions. An alternative construction comprises a body wrapper having a front and pair of parallel side walls which may be split intermediate the ends of the front wall to provide a pair of L-shaped component parts which may be secured together as discussed above.

3,3 18,301 Patented May 9, 1967 Further objects and advantages of the invention will become apparent as the following description proceeds and features of novelty which characterize the invention will be pointed out in particularity in the claims annexed to and forming a part of this specification.

For a better understanding of the invention, reference may be had to the accompanying drawings, in which:

FIGURE 1 is a perspective view of a cooking range incorporating one embodiment of the invention;

FIG. 2 is a perspective view of a range body for use with a range such as illustrated in FIG. 1;

FIG. 3 is a perspective view of another embodiment of the invention; and

FIG. 4 is a perspective view of still another embodiment of the invention.

Referring to the drawings, especially to FIG. 1, reference character 10 designates generally a cooking range cabinet comprising a top 11, body 12 and a base 13, all of which are constructed of sheet metal of suitable thickness and coated with vitreous enamel.

The body 12 (see FIG. 2) comprises a pair of parallel side walls 14 and 16 and a front wall generally indicated at 17. The front wall 17 is provided with a first opening 18 for receiving an oven (not shown) and a second opening 19 for receiving a storage drawer 20 or the like. The side walls 14 and 16 and the front wall 17 are provided at their tops and bottoms, respectively, with horizontal flanges 21 and 22. The horizontal flanges 21 provide support for the top 11 and means to which the top can be secured in a well known manner. The base 13 is attached to the horizontal flange 22, for supporting the top 11 and the body 12. A pair of apertures 23 in the front Wall 17 are adapted to receive hinge members (not shown) of an oven door 24 (FIG. 1). The side walls 14 and 16 are provided with vertical flanges 26 (only one being shown) to which a rear panel 27 may be attached. Gusset plates 29 are welded to or otherwise suitably secured to adjacent horizontal flanges 21 and gusset plates 31 are secured to the horizontal flanges 22 in order to reenforce or rigidify the body 12 at the junctures of the side walls 14 and 16 with the front wall 17.

The body 12 is the basic structure representing the smallest of a full line of range bodies from which the other, larger, range bodies may be fabricated. To produce a larger body in accordance with the novel method of this invention, the front wall 17 of body 12 is split along the dotted lines indicated at 32 thereby providing a pair of L-shaped members 33 and 34 (see FIG. 3). The L-shaped members 33 and 34 comprise, respectively, the side wall 14 and a front wall portion 35 and the side wall 16 and a front wall portion 36. A plurality of elongated channel-shaped fillers or spacers 37 are inserted between the free end of the wall portions 35 and 36 and in the same plane therewith. A plurality of flat plates 30 are welded or otherwise secured to adjacent back surfaces of the channel-shaped fillers 37 and the front wall portions 35 and 36. Alternately, the filler ends of the members 37 may be provided with reduced or offset portions (not shown) insertable in adjacent channel portions of the front wall portions 35 and 36 and welded or otherwise suitably secured to the abutting back surface. The front wall portions 35 and 36 together with the filler member 37 form a front panel generally indicated by reference character 38. The front panel 38 is provided with a first opening 39 which is quite a bit larger than the corresponding opening 18 in the front wall 17 and a second opening 40 corresponding in position and purpose with the opening 19 in the front wall 17, but quite a bit larger.

A rear panel 41 of suitable size and material is attached to the vertical flanges 26 by suitable means, for example, self-tapping screws. The rear panel 41 together with the sidewalls 14 and 16 and the front panel 38 form a range body generally indicated by reference character 42.

In lieu of using the two uppermost channel-shaped filler members 37, of FIG. 3, a substantially I-I-shaped channel member 43 may be employed and in lieu of the lowermost filler member 37, a straight channel member 44 may be employed (see FIG. 4) to provide another range body generally indicated by reference character 45. The body 45 has a front panel 46 comprising the front wall portions 35 and 36 which are secured to the channel members 43 and 44 by means of fiat plates 30, the front wall 46 being provided with openings 47 and 48 for receiving ovens (not shown) and an opening 49 for receiving a utility drawer similar to the drawer 20 shown in FIG. 1. A pair of apertures 50 disposed in the substantially H-shaped channel member 43 cooperates with the apertures 23 for receiving pairs of hinge members (not shown) of a pair of doors similar to the door 24 shown in FIG. 1..

Instead of using the body 12 as the basic structure from which larger range bodies are made, by splitting the front wall 17 along the dotted lines 32, component parts similar to the L-shaped members 33 and 34 (see FIG. 3) could be provided. The L-shaped members 33 and 34 could be fabricated from flat metal sheets by cutting substantially U-shaped notches in'one edge of the flat metal sheets and t then bending the sheets intermediate the cutout edge and Y The subsequent steps of fabricating the opposite edge. the various bodies or body structures would be identical to those which follow the splitting of the front wall17 that the invention be limited to the specific arrangements shown and described and it is intended to cover in the appended claims all such modifications as fall within the true spirit and scope of the invention.

What is claimed is:

1. In a range construction, body structure having substantially parallel side walls, a solid panel connecting corresponding ends of said side walls and forming the rear of said body structure, a front wall extending across the other ends of said side walls, said front wall comprising parallel spaced apart portions integral with one of said side walls and a plurality of parallel spaced apart portions integral with the other of said side walls, said front wall further comprising a plurality of filler members disposed in parallel spaced apart relationship and interconnecting the parallel spaced apart portions of said one of said side walls with the parallel spaced apart portions of said other of said side walls thereby forming a plurality of openings in said front wall, one of said openings providing access to at least one oven liner adapted to be supported behind one of said openings and another of said openings being suitable for receiving a utility drawer.

2. Structure as specified in claim 1, wherein two of said filler members are joined intermediate the ends thereof by a member disposed perpendicular thereto.

3. Structure as specified in claim 1, wherein said front wall is provided with elongated apertures adjacent the extremities. of saidone of said openings for receiving hinge members for mounting a door structure in registry with said one of said openings.

References Cited by the Examiner UNITED STATES PATENTS 2,418,152 4/1947 Avery l2639 2,664,258 12/1953 Lanier 3l2205 X 2,992,055 7/ 1961 Kass 312257 3,214,229 10/1965 Van Winkle et al. 312-205 FREDERICK L. MATTESON, IR., Primary Examiner.

E. G. FAVORS, Assistant Examiner. 

1. IN A RANGE CONSTRUCTION, A BODY STRUCTURE HAVING SUBSTANTIALLY PARALLEL SIDE WALLS, A SOLID PANEL CONNECTING CORRESPONDING ENDS OF SAID SIDE WALLS AND FORMING THE REAR OF SAID BODY STRUCTURE, A FRONT WALL EXTENDING ACROSS THE OTHER ENDS OF SAID SIDE WALLS, SAID FRONT WALL COMPRISING PARALLEL SPACED APART PORTIONS INTEGRAL WITH ONE OF SAID SIDE WALLS AND A PLURALITY OF PARALLEL SPACED APART PORTIONS INTEGRAL WITH THE OTHER OF SAID SIDE WALLS, SAID FRONT WALL FURTHER COMPRISING A PLURALITY OF FILLER MEMBERS DISPOSED IN PARALLEL SPACED APART RELATIONSHIP AND INTERCONNECTING 